Liberate the Caged Voices

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Feb 20, 2019

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Dec 31, 2018

Hello fellow advocates and abolitionists,

Liberate The Caged Voices presented #4 of its ongoing series at Humboldt State University, November 16, 2018. Nearly every one of the roughly thirty people that attended read a letter or a poem. One woman shared “...reading the letter silently to myself was powerful, but reached another level when read out loud in front of the audience…” Another woman, who ended up reading two pieces, said “...my philosophy professor suggested I attend this event and I thought to myself ‘what does this have to do with what I’m doing’ and I discovered, everything!” And still another participant cried much of the time. This is a powerful and moving event designed to move us outside of our comfort zone and into greater advocacy and understanding, and to bear the burden of this struggle alongside our caged brothers and sisters.

The purpose of the series is to provide a platform for the voices of our caged community members- mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, friends and...you get the point- to be heard in the public and bring awareness to the truth of the Prison Industrial Slave Complex (PISC).

It is 2018 and slavery is legal as codified by the constitution’s 13th Amendment- read it! Convicted of a crime? You become a slave of the state. This is a human rights crisis and slavery- in any form!- is a crime against humanity!

The letters, commentary and poetry written by our caged community members speak to these issues and more. They provide insight, wisdom and the solutions necessary to make real change. These voices educate, agitate and empower us to organize ourselves out here to collaborate with our community members in there and follow their lead.

This is what I/we ask here at California Prison Focus:

Follow the calendar and attend a Liberate The Caged Voices event- avail yourself to bringing forth the voices of those most impacted and helping us shift the narrative on the PISC

Subscribe to our newsletter Prison Focus, and share with friends and family

Read the newsletter archives to further educate yourself- for decades, our caged community members have been telling us the truth of what’s really happening behind prison walls

The National Prison Strike to end prison slavery (August 21- September 9) was a fight for human rights. Their human rights are our human rights, join us!

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Oct 10, 2018

Hello advocates, agitators and allies,

This is the first post to this lovingly created page- shout out to Kyle! Our brilliant teenage techie!- dedicated to the Liberate The Caged Voices campaign.

I say advocates to acknowledge those with a big heart willing to see the inhumanity of the Prison Industrial Slave Complex; I say agitators to acknowledge those willing to resist the system of modern-day legal slavery; and I say allies to acknowledge those willing to embrace all three and stay in the struggle.

As an abolitionist I will make no excuses or accept compromises when it comes to abolishing slavery. I will not make excuses for our nation’s past. The founders of this country were not only what we’ve been told, but also slavers, rapists, thieves and genocidal. White supremacy is a value afforded only to “white” male, land-owning elite codified by the constitution of the United States. That leaves out the rest of us. And Black people especially, and brown, poor and any kind of “other” generally are being violently targeted to fuel this sick system of profits over people called capitalism and keeping us fighting for our human rights. As for slavery, the exception clause to the 13th Amendment deems it legal. Read:

Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

The word EXCEPT means that when you are convicted of a crime you become a slave. Our constitution says that acceptable punishment for a crime is slavery! Are you okay with that??

Don’t despair! Let’s get to work! Liberate The Caged Voices is intended to get the voices out of our caged community members and follow their lead in making the changes to their conditions that they deem necessary. Let’s work together with them and work together out here.

Please bare with me as I learn to develop my first blog...

I intend to make this an educational and informative experience where we can share thoughts, ideas and dialogue that seeks to stretch our consciousness, shift the paradigm and together build a more just and humane existence for us all.